Entries tagged with vampires

Born Simon Flynt in the post-Mortality years near Waltham Forest (now Epping Forest, which ispart of Greater London) to a blacksmith and a baker/midwife. One sister, named May.

Developed a strong friendship and bond with childhood friend Gareth Owen, whose family had relocated to Waltham from Wales.

Transformed into a Vampire at the age of 27 after leaving a pub for home. The Vampire who transformed him is unknown, but was probably part of the Darkblood Hive, passing that lineage on to Simon. He was given the Vampire name of Absinthe, suggesting that the Vampire who had brought him into the Hive was quite possibly French. Simon rejected the name and returned to his mortal name, hiding his new identity from family and acquaintances. Only Gareth knew what Simon had become, and took that secret to his grave. After it was obvious he was not aging, Simon pretended to leave Waltham, when he actually just took refuge in the forest, feeding on hunters, travellers, and anyone else who may happen to find themselves in the depths of the wood. Gareth also gave blood to Simon, who now called himself Flynt, deepening their bond.

After the death of Gareth, then an old man, at the hands of none other than Cadmus Pariah, Flynt changed the spelling of his name to Flint and joined a roving band of actors who put on Passion Plays in each village they came upon. Flint could only perform at night, and used the excuse of artist's preference as to why this was.

Moved on to become an artist in London, painting and sculpting all manner of subjects, from landscapes to people. He also took up swordsmanship during this period, the rumours of his prowess in this becoming local legend.

Sailed to America once his eternal youth became suspect in London. Was known in the southern colonies to be an eloquent travelling preacher. Was one of the first to hold nighttime tent revivals. Was often called Brother Flint during this time.

Relocated to New York to begin a new life, once again finding a niche in the art world.

Bounced from region to region in the US until present-time, where he settled in Los Angeles and no longer bothered to hide his Vampiric nature. Flint the Vampire became well-known in the club, art, acting, and Beat circles.

Has large round hazel eyes that occasionally flash an eerie phosphorescent green.

Dark blonde hair, kept at a lanky length just past the ears.

Stands at just under 5'7”, making him slightly shorter than the small but highly dangerous Cadmus Pariah.

Often mistaken to be a crazy street preacher in various metropolitan centers.

Prefers females for his blood, but has no qualms taking males. Is well-received in the LGBT community.

Is fond of animals, often having a dog companion. He shares this trait with Dmitri, Kelat's soul mate.

Although tempted to transform his beloved Gareth, Flint has never brought a soul over to the world of Vampirism. He has just never really been interested in doing such a thing.

Loves to hang out in matinees while waiting for the sun to go down.

Is fond of comedy.

Tends bar in some of the clubs he goes to on a occasion.

Has a fascination for the modern world's technological advances and the odd fad.

Enjoys participating in protests and has been registered as a subversive by Homeland Security. He doesn't care. Protesting is fun.

Likes to be bare-footed when at all possible.

Visits Epping Forest as often as possible.

Likes to read, and has often visited Clive Barker at book signings and various other events.

Has a collection of swords, from his years of being a practicing swordsman.

Carries a camera with him everywhere he goes.

Likes all kinds of music, and was actually a fan of Magnificat, not recognising the leader as the man who killed Gareth.

Favourite emoting gesture is the shrug.

Possesses the ability to anubis into a common rat.

Cannot abide the sun, but has no trouble with religious symbols and artifacts.

Has a strong Compulsion and Glamour ability, but cannot maintain either for very long, mainly due to a lack of self-confidence when it comes to such magicks.

Chose to remain within the New Hive when the Original Ten were reconciled by the Augury of Gideon. He felt he had nothing to offer the world as a mortal, and decided to remain wandering in the eternal night.

Rarely kills, and only when he absolutely has to. This does not come from some lofty ethic; rather, he would prefer to dedicate all his time to the drinking of blood, not caring enough to make a kill unless his prey becomes too vocal or physical in their protests to his attentions. These are usually mostly straight men who find themselves in a compromising position with another male. Instead of having to listen to an endless diatribe against his practices, Flint just disposes of the prey and moves on to the next one.

Has the ability of super speed, and can run like a cheetah if he can be bothered enough to do so, and that’s not often.

Developed tapeta lucida upon being transformed, which may be the reason behind his strange, flashing eyes. His night vision is double that of most Vampires and he can actually see in infrared as well, seeing heavenly bodies usually only visible to high-powered telescopes.

Spirit animals: the domestic canine, the brown rat, the badger, and the moth.

Music Preferences: Chamber music, Early 80s Punk and New Wave, Electronic, Hip Hop, and Trip Hop. It has been suggested in some Darkling circles that Macklemore's Thrift Shop was a product of the artist meeting the Vampire in - you guessed it - a thrift shop.

Vagabond Vampire, Simon Flynt was born and raised in the days just after the end of the Great Mortality, near what is now called Epping Forest. After his transformation into the Darkblood Hive, at which time he was given the name of Absinthe because of his unusual eyes, Flint spent decades haunting the formerly-named Waltham Forest, long enough to become known to the people of the area as The Waltham Phantom. He does not know his Blood parentage, and had to learn about what he had become from his dearest friend, Gareth, who had learned about Vampires from a tribe of Romani passing through the forest. He is distinct in that he possesses tapeta lucida, and is seemingly cloaked from detection by Cadmus, which gives him a particular advantage when they finally do cross paths. He has long had the habit of looting thrift stores and charity shoppes for clothing intentionally way too large for his small frame. Since he is essentially homeless, his wardrobe is his home, which he wears in layers, discarding what he can no longer use, as he goes along. Flint has never used his given Vampire name, Absinthe. (anchors and influences - I’ll leave it to you which are anchors and which are influences: Tim Roth, Wavy Gravy, Ted “Theodore” Logan, Abby Hoffman, Jimmy Stewart, John Lydon, Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest, the Fool as represented in the Tarot, Viva la Vida by Coldplay, Inigo Montoya, Casanova, Hipsters, the Golden Age of Hollywood, Evangelical revivals and medicine shows.)

Over the course of about a day now, I've had one character get resurrected in my current narrative and another new character get added to the same narrative. As it stands in my brainmeats right now, after Cadmus kills Baptiste Chenier, a solitary Vampire whose Hive alliance is still a mystery to me, resurrects him. This would make him the only Vampire to ever be decapitated, but still be saved. The only thing I know about the female Vampire is that her name is Pandora, and she renames the film maker Cadmus just killed Lazarus. The feeling I'm getting from this new and unexpected turn of events indicates to me that they are going to be of special importance to the new story. So, to celebrate, I made a crap Photoshop manipulation whilst waiting for my words to return.

One of the themes that threads throughout all three books is that of Absolution (it's important because of the capital A!). I'm not referring to just Christian absolution but the essence of the word itself, sparking the human imagination to entertain the possibility, or feel secure in their faith to believe without question, that forgiveness for anything is possible. One of the sub-hives, the Hive of Redemption, established by Thiyennen, took the idea of absolution to a whole other crazy level with many of its members, including Thiyennen, resorting to behaviour seen in the travelling Flagellants during the Black Death. This twisted version of what may achieve absolution is studied in depth in The Augury of Gideon, when Thiyennen and his allies capture and imprison Cadmus Pariah.

Of course, all of this is only my opinion, and I respect and will aggressively defend your opinions on the matter, because that would be only fair. The nature of true absolution, in my opinion, partially based on personal experiences, is one of being accepted and loved for who you are, faults and all, and being able to return to a possibly simpler (as in uncomplicated) point in your life, when you could embrace wonder with abandon, and be shed of guilt that only serves to break spirits down rather than build them up. Absolution happens when you no longer accept such programming imposed on you from almost the point of birth throughout your life.

A song by Eliza Gilkyson, entitled 'Emmanuel', is very close to what I have believed in the past regarding redemption and absolution, and it still has an effect on my beliefs (or lack thereof in recent years). Superficially, the song would appear to be Christ-centered (this is different from Christianity-centered in my world, so just bear with me), it addresses the longing we all carry, regardless of religious or spiritual persuasions, to return home, or to the past, or to some place or state of being that existed before we think fell to the lies of shame and sin that weigh much of the modern world down. Even that storyline, documenting the spiritual enslavement of humanity, shows up in 'The Blood Crown', the fault of which is clearly placed at the Apostate's door.

The first time I heard the song, at work in 1993 (I was inspecting the CD the song is on), I listened to it from a Christian perspective, although I am not Christian, based on its title alone. Assumptions are easily made, are they not? When the words sunk in, my first interpretation was of a reality where the fallen angel Sammael is welcomed home by Emmanuel after going through incarnations of humans, animals, and even things (a rock, at one point!) before he could bring himself to revisit the music he had made prior to leaving in pursuit of the glories and tragedies on Earth. This interpretation dictated the last picture in the video.

The bigger story the song tells isn't one that heaps guilt, fear, and ultimately spiritual banishment if you don't toe a particular line on the listener; rather, it gives the message that, even after you've experienced and done all you feel you need to, both the good and the bad, the door will be open when you want to walk through it to whatever you believe is there ('What Dreams May Come' is an example of what I'm trying to communicate here). From that perspective, the song does not belong to just one faith. It belongs to all faiths and all levels of spiritual sentience, including Atheism, human and non-human. It is non-judgemental, and can be enjoyed on a purely secular level, particularly from a psychological viewpoint. Liking and agreeing with Carl Jung may help here, too.

I believe that's truly the only way absolution or redemption can be achieved. It's an acceptance and a presence of old knowing that we tend to lose in the physical realms, and many may perceive such acceptance and old knowledge to be an external phenomenon, which is completely acceptable, but I think it also is present within everyone and everything. All that said, even though my history with the song predates all three books, 'Emmanuel' is definitely a strong musical presence in 'The Augury of Gideon', considering both the song and book address the concept of cyclic returning so that healing may follow.

I believe that Eliza Gilkyson achieved something greater than all of us, including herself, when she wrote this song, and I think it's one that should be shared with as many people as possible, not as a means of conversion of any sort, but as a campaign to allow us to not only forgive one another, but to forgive ourselves.

The video is one of my much earlier attempts at movie-making, so please overlook the general sorry mess it is. The song is rare and the album it's on has been out of print for ages, so there's more people than not who have never heard it. My making the video was an attempt to rectify that crime against good music. One thing I did want to draw your attention to, regarding the video, is that the pictures used, with the exception of the last one, are all tapestries or tile mosaics in the Byzantine style, or at least that's what Teh Intarwebz told me when I started collecting images for the vid. Byzantine art was a major influence on the physical appearance of the Tarmi, specifically because of the eyes of the people in the art. If one did not know, one might assume that everyone in Byzantium had gigantic alien eyes and, as a teenager when I started mapping my personal myths, I got all caught up in the what-ifs that arose in my mind from studying the art. (And why hasn't Ancient Aliens addressed such possibilities yet?) Using these images for the video helped me tie in the importance of the song to my own mythologies.

So, if you're still with me after this godawful ramble, I hope you enjoy the song, and I encourage you to share it people who may benefit from the non-demoninational and/or secular message of hope that it is never too late to embrace the absolution sitting around waiting for you to pick it up. It's inside you already, despite what you believe or don't believe. You were born with it, it's still there, and it'll be there until you die, if you're an Atheist, or continue on with you, if you believe in the existence of afterlife and the many flavours in which such beliefs come available. Even if they don't need a message like that, but do appreciate good music (and who doesn't?), I feel the song would be a gift to them, as well.

If you want to learn more about Eliza, she has a website: http://elizagilkyson.com/

I also made second crap video using another song from the same album, this one focusing on any number of pagan histories after encountering invading religions, sung from the viewpoint of a priestess who lived such a history, but the song is specially focused on the Divine Feminine, as it is represented in the song by the catch-all Goddess name, Diana. It's called 'I Become the Moon' and it also had an effect on the writing of the Relics trilogy, especially 'The Blood Crown,' which features the Tale of the Blood Moon, whose narrative focuses on the triumph of the Apostate over the remnants of Tarmian civilisation, and the subsequent tragedy of humanity losing its way in the wilderness of the conquering magus' lies.

And if any of this inspires you enough to want to read the books, here's the link to them, for your continued convenience: THE VAMPIRE RELICS ON AMAZON.

I've long held the opinion that oral traditions were not entirely dependent on repeatedly telling the tale and memorizing every nuance that the story contained. I am of a mind that there comes a point where spoken and written communication becomes embedded in cultural and racial consciousness. Even if you've never heard a song or a tale before, sometimes you still recognise it. Something within you resonates with an ineffable sense of truth that, to quote Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, "surrounds and binds" you. More often than not, such transcendental familiarity can be associated with a person's ancestry. You are experiencing a kind of sacred sentience that scientists, particularly in the field of genetics, are only now coming to understand.

This expansive consciousness is not limited to humanity. It involves everything we think we know, and emanates far beyond the boundaries we have yet to imagine. Our fellow Earthlings perceive existence in ways so alien to us, we can't even grasp the enormity of such a concept. The more we learn about the world around us, the more obvious it becomes that our knowledge and understanding don't even skim the surface of the mysteries of creation. One thing we have begun to accept, though, is the power of DNA. Within DNA rest infinite spirals of information that can be accessed as needed and enhanced by the epiphanies their current vessels' experience in their lifetime. Looking at it from this perspective gives rise to the idea that sentience doesn't reside within us; rather, we reside in sentience. Everything we know, or think we know, has been discovered countless times before, and will continue to do so as the universe, or multiverse, seeks its own definition.

What does all of this have to do with The Augury of Gideon? Everything.

First, the definition of "augury" as found on Dictionary.com:

A great deal of the books of Daniel and Revelation are auguries in the Abrahamic religions. Many Shamans, from the ancient past to the present, are augers, their knowledge, often acquired by rote, are auguries. Some auguries are so old, their wisdom have become organic, inscribed upon the very atoms that comprise the spirals of DNA. An augury can be quantum graffiti, the wall upon which it is written, creation's tabula rasa, eternally craving the to be filled with poetry, whale song, the repetitive patterns drafted in the path of stars and the whispered constructs of a virus. It is known and understood on innumerable levels and in dimensions that may never be proven by humanity.

That said, an augury can be anything, not just a spoken tale or a series of letters chiseled into stone. Pull away the veils that conceal its stories, and it will be revealed in an infinity of forms. It can be the symphony of what will come, encrypted and replicated in every tiny cell that makes you you.

I first encountered the word "augury" when I watched Earth: Final Conflict in 1997. One of the main characters, played by the brilliant Richard Chevolleau, had the nickname "Augur," which he acquired because of his almost supernatural computer skills, which included hacking and virtual linguistic gymnastics that helped the resistance better understand the true intentions of the alien Taelons. Being a student of the prophecy, omens, and various forms of divination, I instantly loved the word and mentally bookmarked it for possible use in the future. I got my chance two years later while I was writing Cadmus Pariah's biography, Sui Generis, which became one of the chapters in the first Relics book, The Chalice. I started the story out with a strange little phrase that had been looping in my mind for days: "The desert shakes with the footsteps of the Jinn, ascending for the perishing sun, owl and serpent alike." After completing the bio, I attributed what looked to be a prophecy to one of the Original Ten Vampires, a Tarmian wood-worker, who became known as Gideon. The name was based on a bit of confusion on my part, at the age of 9. In 1978, I watched an old Jack Benny movie called The Horn Blows at Midnight. Mr. Benny played an avenging angel whose duty was to sound his trumpet to herald Armageddon. I don't know how or why it happened, but up until I gave the Tarmian-turned-Upyr the name, I had always thought Jack Benny's name in the film was Gideon. Even though I discovered I was mistaken, I still kept the name.

During the time I was writing Sui Generis, I was learning more about Shamanism and the use of hallucinogens in various Shamanic rituals around the world. Ever since I'd learned Syd Barrett's tragic story, I became resolute in the opinion that by way of LSD, Syd became hyper-aware of how vast and incomprehensible reality truly is and, because he apparently had little or no training in Shamanism, he was unable to process that which had manifested, and it drove him mad.

I could easily see that as a possibility, considering the presence of the archetypal mad man or fool making itself known in cultures throughout the world over the span of millennia. Two modern examples of this would be the character of Gabby Johnson in Blazing Saddles, and Matthew Silver, who is a performance artist in New York. He's the perfect modern example of the archetypal mad shaman. Watch him in action, and you'll see what I mean.

So, taking the components of a Gene Roddenberry sci-fi show, a case of mistaken identity involving an old B&W film from the 40s, the tragic story of Syd Barrett, the theories of cellular and racial memory, combined with cosmic consciousness, I added the Fool archetype, and anchored the character to Dean Haglund in his role as Ringo in The Lone Gunmen to further flesh Gideon out.

Gideon was the mad Vampire shaman, and his prophecies were known to exist by the entire Hive, but no one knew what all of them were. No one could say if they came in the form of scrolls or were passed on in oral traditions. His foretellings were collectively called The Augury, and it is this that became the third Relic, which was actually seen and held by at least two characters in the first Relics book, The Chalice. Even though Gideon is seen only in retrospect throughout the series, he and his message became two of the most important factors in resolving the arc story.

About half of the book was influenced by a song called 'Planet' by Shriekback, a bonus track on the now impossible-to-find "Cormorant" egg. I don't know what the true meaning of the song is; rather, I wrote a large portion of The Augury of Gideon based on my interpretation of the lyrics. It certainly triggered thoughts of martyrdom and sacrifice in my mind, with some unexpected results.

As is expected, the final book of the trilogy brings a few storylines to close, and says goodbye to some of the Vampires at its end. Given that The Augury is firmly based in the cyclic nature of existence, the immortality of genetic memory, and the indestructibility of sentience, I would suggest you compare the last story to one of Cadmus' favourite things: a black hole. Going into a black hole may very well seal your doom, based on what we think we know about how the universe works, but it could also be a tool of cosmic transformation, giving credence to the Pagan concept of the Goddess' womb to tomb aspect. Who knows what may happen when you come out the other side of the black hole?

Perhaps we can find out together. Until then, I hope you enjoy this book and the characters that told the story. If anything in any of the three books inspires you to learn more about some of the concepts, traditions, cultures, music, and philosophies that helped inspire them, then I'd say my work is done. You have the secrets of The Augury now. It's time to pass it on to others.

I've been going through some old paperwork, and came across this, dated 1988. I don't even remember writing it, but there are clues to why I might have written it. I was still caught up in my studies of Greek drama from high school, on through college, and had always been fascinated with the secrets the structures of Egypt keep to this day, so that would explain the title. I guess...

Around 1987, I became enamoured with masks. Not Halloween masks, but ritual masks, tribal masks, masks that held meaning. Those masks that don't come off, but are biologically constructed by their wearers to veil the truth. About this time, I found a mask carved out of wood at a garage sale for $1.00. If I correctly recall, the woman said she bought it in Jamaica. From 1988 'til 2010, it hung facing the front door, guarding us from any unwelcome persons or things.

I remember having nightmares about that time, too, which eventually gave rise to my Vampires. The mention of blood and wine was a definite reference to the Gabriel/Clannad Vampire family that appeared in those nightmares.

Also, during this time, I had discovered Syd Barrett, who is doubtlessly referenced in the term "nightmare trip." "The Bells of Silence" was something I had used to describe the sound preceding the Cenobites arrival in the Hellraiser films.

Other than that, I got nothing on this poem, except that it's kind of...odd?

Here's the biog, which can also be seen on my Amazon page. <--- click for that link magick to happen. No html fuckery was allowed for this, so things that should be in bold or italics are not. Sorry about that.

Tracy Angelina Evans was born on 10 September, 1967, in Asheville, North Carolina, into a small family that had more in common with the Addams Family than the Waltons. Her father was a slightly off-center Jack of all artistic trades (radio DJ, photographer, writer, journalist, singer/songwriter, comic, and Japanese commercial actor - go figure), so it was convenient that his nickname was Jack. Her mother is a first generation Hippie, who adores artistic/crafty endeavours, reading, watching horror movies, and anything to having to do with nature and the animal kingdom. Her grandparents were Big Band Jazz musicians and singers (maternal grandparental units), painters and storytellers (paternal grandmother unit), and CIA operatives (paternal grandfather unit) in what was then West Germany. She was raised by her eccentric aunt, Tudi, and paternal grandmother unit in Asheville and, later, in Duncan, SC. She began artistic pursuits at the age of 4, when her grandmother told her to go draw flies. Too young to get the joke, her first pictures were of flies. The spiders came later to eat the overpopulation of flies. Webs were really fun to draw. She began writing animals stories around the age of 7, but switched to human-centered sci-fi stories at 13, when she heard the Electric Light Orchestra's album, Time.

Language and mythology became an important part of Tracy's education at an early age, and she was fascinated with religion. Early on, she wanted to be a preacher, but was told only men could do that. Then she wanted to be a nun, going around with a towel held to her head with a plastic mixing bowl to signify her cornette, but was told only Catholics could do that. Her mother was Jewish and her father was a non-practicing Southern Baptist, so the natural progression from these lofty origins, along with the dashing of original spiritual aspirations because of denomination and gender, is for the offspring to embrace Pagan and Pantheist philosophies, which became intertwined with her sci-fi sensibilities, the music prevalent in her life, and what little she could grasp of actual science, particularly physics and psychology.

In her junior year of high school, she chose to do a research paper on anti-Utopian societies, or Dystopian worlds, using A Brave New World and 1984 as the frame work for her paper. This turned her into a conspiracy theorist and affected the general tone of her writing from then on. During this time, too, she began building a personal myth around an ancient alien race that came to Earth before the rise of humanity. Part of the process of this creation was the invention of a new language, based loosely on the Indo-European family of languages with a hint of Finno-Ugric. (How, really, did two countries so far apart from one another end up sharing a root language, anyway? Finland? Hungary? What say you?)

At the age of 19, Tracy's genuine love of music, combined with her knowledge of a wide variety of musical genres, gave her the opportunity to work in the music industry starting in 1987. She left Wofford College to pursue this career. For almost a decade, she literally (using the correct definition of the word) got paid to sit and listen to music, during which she was allowed to read, write, draw, or anything else that did not deter from her job in the quality assurance department of what was then BMG/RCA Music Service. Another nine years with the company saw her going into music promotions, which drove her clinically mad.

Her Tarmian mythology got a metaphysical shot in the arm when Tracy began studying ancient Pagan religions and dabbling in the then still fresh New Age philosophies in 1990 and going forward.

Also in 1990, she discovered what would become her favourite music band, Shriekback. They would end up having a profound effect on every aspect of her own artistic endeavours. Thanks to her entering the virtual world of the Internet in 1998, she got to eventually meet some members of the band, and help to promote them and their music since 2000. They were kind enough to allow her to use lyrics from their songs as chapter lead-ins for her books.

After the death of her aunt in 2011, Tracy moved to San Diego to be closer to her mother, taking with her, her non-human friends Smidgen (a giant cat with a partially erect furry penis for a tail) and Toby (an obnoxious deer Chihuahua who had been abandoned at the veterinary hospital for which she briefly worked as a Vet Assistant), her music, book, and DVD collections, a few clothes, and her computer.

She is quite active online, maintaining a 12-year-old blog on Live Journal, called The Cliffs of Insanity, and sharing amusing and/or infuriating bits of info and images on her Facebook page. Besides writing and devouring copious amounts of music, she enjoys drawing badly, and is trying to learn how to use an art tablet. She also loves to read, watch movies (any genre but romance), make videos for You Tube (some vids for Shriekback, some vids to share songs that might not otherwise be available, like the more obscure Celtic folk tunes of Dougie MacLean and Talitha MacKenzie, and some funny bits and bobs, like The Tim Roth Tutorials), going to drum circles on the weekend to work out her djembe and get a contact high, and enthusiastically waiting for the End of the World. Over the past few years, comedy has also become of great import to her mental health. There's a reason why we have the cliché "laughter is the best medicine."

Tracy has a strong affinity for non-human Earthlings (camelids, reptiles, birds, and mantids, in particular) and was involved in cat rescue for some time in Duncan, SC. At one point, she was seeking homes for about thirty cats she had tamed and nursed back to health, earning her the title of Crazy Cat Lady in her neighbourhood. (All the cats were re-homed.) She has worked to rehabilitate many species, including a hypoglycaemic hummingbird, a family of opossums to whom she gave epic Nordic names for no reason whatsoever, and a variety of lizards. She is in love with a planet she sees aching under the yoke of human oppression, and would do anything to see that change. She claims to be a professional misanthrope, which is most often channelled into Cadmus Pariah, but she likes you. To the best of her knowledge, her lineage includes Welsh, Scottish, English, Jewish, Dutch, Hungarian, African, and Cherokee genes, making her a class A mongrel.

After years of change and countless reassessments of her belief system, Tracy is now more comfortable with the concept of Jungian archetypes and how they are recurring themes throughout human history. As it stands at the time of this writing, she's working on a fourth Vampire book, she's still a diehard Star Wars/Star Trek sci-fi/fantasy nerd, an apostle of JRR Tolkien's and Robert Anton Wilson's, an opinionated grouch, and a constant victim of synchronicity, which tends to spread the wealth of weirdness with anyone in close proximity. She has a short list of heroes that include Jeff Lynne, Carl Jung, Barry Andrews, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Starhawk. She is also one of the 14 remaining people on Earth who dislikes Joss Whedon and that for which he stands, and has actually lost friends because of her opinion. If she had her druthers, Tracy would move to Avebury, Wiltshire, and groove on the ley lines' vibrations for the rest of her life.

She's absolutely certain that she is uncertain about everything, and that is most certainly a statement loaded with uncertainty.

For some idiotic reason, I had no clue that such a thing as an author's page existed on Amazon, so I'm playing catch-up now. I've uploaded a blurb about The Chalice, which will be live in 3-5 business days, according to Amazon. My page URL is http://www.amazon.com/Tracy-Angelina-Evans, if you're interested to see how I fare in filling in so many long-standing voids. For now, though, here's what I wrote about book 1:

From the Author

The Chalice was originally born in 1987 from a dream I had about Vampires that involved the songs 'Mercy Street' by Peter Gabriel and 'Theme from Harry's Game' by Clannad. In my dreamworld, Vampires defined in equal measure both blasphemy and sanctity. Even though I grew up with Vampire myths and legends, beginning with watching Dark Shadows in my playpen with my mother, I began a quest to learn as much about these beings as I possibly could, from the perspective of the many global cultures from which they sprang. One of the most influential books in my research was A Dream of Dracula by Leonard Wolf. Combining his profound scholarship with the myths of an alien race I had been writing about since 1983, I wrote my first short story about a Vampire turning a human to the night over the course of three days. This was my first Vampire character, Vasily Tenin (Thiyennen), who became one of the main characters in the book series. Also, in 1987, I read the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. The idea of the Grail not actually being a cup set fire to my imagination, as did the subtle references to a centuries-long conspiracy that involved the Knights Templar, Freemasonry, and the Illuminati. A fascination with Romani and Jewish culture also had a major hand in the formation of what would become the first book of The Vampire Relics.

Even though I was doing a great deal of research and myth "redefinition", I still struggled to write anything with which I was comfortable. The main female character in the bones of The Chalice, Kelat, did not fit my idea of a proper antagonist, especially after I became involved in Goddess worship. Kelat, for me, was an ideal - a character that accepted herself for what she had become, but never lost her divine identity. She was an archetype of Kali or the Cailleach made manifest. I could not make her evil. So the story languished until 1990, when I discovered Shriekback, whose song 'Deeply Lined Up' gave me my first visions of who would become the primary antagonist in the stories, Cadmus Pariah.

Writer's Block haunted me for years, though, between 1990 and 1999, at which time I began to write Cadmus' biography, which became the chapter in The Chalice entitled 'Sui Generis'. From there, the writing and myth-making began in earnest, and produced the first book of The Vampire Relics, which was completed in 2005.

My hope is that, when someone reads The Chalice, they are inspired to do their own research on the Vampire phenomenon and its apparent presence throughout the world, despite nations and cultures having no contact with one another at the time rumours of Vampires came to the fore, and seek to learn more about cultures like that of the Romani, as well as mystery traditions practiced by Kabbalists, Gnostics, and Cathars. It would be heartening to hear of people leaving the book with more questions than answers, so that they might expand their knowledge and the realm of possibilities in this incomprehensible world. And I would also be very happy to have been instrumental in the broadening of readers' musical tastes by introducing them to artists like Shriekback, Concrete Blonde, ELO, XTC, Oingo Boingo, and composers Antonin Dvořák and Johann Sebastian Bach.

Lastly, I hope that American readers come out of The Chalice with the realisation that America has an incredible treasure of strange tales, and a newfound interest in those legends and mysteries, like that of the Roanoke Colony and Virginia Dare.

Please enjoy The Chalice and The Vampire Relics. Pass the tales on to those you love. Everyone in this book and the others in the series were written to encourage people to never turn away from the Magick contained in this crazy reality we all share because, if you imagine it or believe it, whatever you believe or imagine exists on some level, and may already be imagining you back.

Even monsters like Cadmus Pariah.

Illustration for the first Vampire story I wrote in 1987, called Vasily's Kiss.

Tonight debrafortune and her hubby took me to Theatre des Vampires. It's a wonderful show! The best way to describe it succinctly is Cirque du Soleil meets Anne Rice. Truly, it was visually stunning, and the dancers have to be strong enough to pick up cars, because all that climbing and dangling from the heights of the stage has got to require some serious upper body strength, and let's not even get into the power your legs must utilise to do what they do.

Everything seemed perfect for the first fifteen minutes or so, then one of the Vampires came shimmying down one of the chains to the round cage in which dangled the coven's victim. He was small, bald, and blue. I shit you not.

But it gets better. Anyone who's known me for any length of time, knows that the primary song that defines Cadmus Pariah is "Clubbed to Death" by Rob Dougan. That song was featured heavily in The Matrix movies. Later on in the show, this particular Vampire comes out on stage dressed in a long overcoat that could have been an extra outfit in The Matrix.

And this happened on the day I announced the release of the third Cadmus book, The Augury of Gideon.

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Despite the weirdness overload, though, it was just an amazing experience. And I am grateful to finally be able to say, "This shit's not just in my head. I have witnesses, and they saw the insanity in action without my having to point it out.

Afterward, we walked a ways down through some of the University of Colorado. There was a nice nip in the air. Being able to feel a season is a welcome experience.

I've been a busy bee as far as manips are concerned. Even though I've still been wrestling with "Feeding the Tree," this has been a comforting distraction of sorts. Hope some of these bring smiles to the faces of some folks.

I saw this image of Barbara Bush on Yahoo, and the first thing I thought of was a velociraptor. Now, you will too.

I was thinking about this earlier while I was on the road. Turns out there's pretty much a "Cannot" or "Can't" sentence that can define each one of the characters (at least the major ones) in the VRs. Here's what came to me.

There was a consensus, especially when I was growing up, that a Vampire was essentially this ugly creature of the night. Sure he was charming and could appear lovely but, when he was in full Vampire mode, he was this hideous creature. I personally never saw the Vampire in this way; rather, I thought of the Vampire as this beautiful being with the ability to prey on humans because of our obsession with all things of beauty. I didn't see the Vampire and think of Count Orlock, I saw the Vampire and thought of George Gordon Lord Byron. There have been instances in my life where I would say so-and-so was a Vampire and they'd take exception to it, or those around me would disagree, thinking that I was insulting this person. That couldn't be further from the truth.

In The Vampire Relics there's the ability that most Vampires have called Glamour. When I write about this, I'm not speaking of jewels and Hollywood high fashion. I'm referring to the following definition:

Vampires could, as I put it in the books, "throw a Glamour" on their intended victim, not to make that victim think the Vampire was attractive when he was not, but to irreversibly seal that person's doom. The victim would be so lost to the beauty of the Vampire, he or she may not even realise the pain of death. Some Vampires, like Cadmus Pariah, have a natural Glamour that pulls the hapless throng of humanity to him without any effort on his part. He need only throw this power out but a little to have the same effect on Vampires. When it comes to the power of Glamour, Cadmus is the most powerful in history, even more so than the Original Ten Vampires.

In real life, I gauge the people around me by this idea of Glamour, and how much of this power a person has over me. If I'm deeply influenced by another's beauty or charm, then that person is, for me, a Vampire. By the same token if, say, an actor is playing a Vampire, that actor may become attractive to me when s/he may not have been before. For example, I've never found Colin Farrell to be exceptionally attractive. Now that he's playing Jerry Dandridge in the remake of Fright Night, I'm all about me some Colin. It's strange how that works, but I'm smart enough to realise that Vampires were the primary influence on me as I entered puberty and I have since spent my years of sexual awareness attempting to capture my animus as defined by the Vampire archetype. (that sounds like something Cadmus would say)

So, if I refer to you as a Vampire, I'm giving you the utmost highest compliment that I can manage. It doesn't mean that I find you merely attractive. It means that I find you unequivocally enthralling, that I would pretty much do anything simply to be in your presence because it makes me feel delicious and sublimely prostrate to your lure. I am enraptured by your very existence, as you define my own. If I have called anyone reading this a Vampire, I hope that this definition makes some sort of sense to you and that you are not offended by my candour. None of this means that I am in love or even in lust with the Vampires in my life; it simply means that my Vampires are the pinnacle of attractiveness for me. There is absolutely nothing ugly about them, and there never can be.

If I have called you a Vampire, I have bestowed on you the greatest compliment I know. Accept it with honour and the satisfaction that someone holds you in such high regard. If anyone is curious as to whom I think is a Vampire, just comment and ask and I'll tell you. I have no shame ha ha!

**EDIT**Speaking of the animus, I wrote a poem about that about twenty years ago. I just found it, so here 'tis.

ANIMUS

She beheld the shining beauty of the mystery in his eyesand she danced in flames of majesty no horror dare disguisejust to summon forth the passion ling’ring underneath his skinand to share with him the pleasure of dark secrecy and sin.

Swirling like a double helix in her sanctity and graceshe invoked the terrible beauty of that mask upon his faceand he placed her soul among his treasures deep within a dreamand held it hostage by the nightmare of a Darkness yet unseen.

”O! Cleave unto him, pirouetting childe of fragile light!”Sang the spirits gone before her into neverending Night.”All joys pale to his dread touch, the threads of his desire.Dance into the flames ~ submit your soul to his dark fire!”

I had a bit of an epiphany last night because of a possible plot hole developing from The Vampire Relics proper and The Singing Tree. First, I'll present my dilemma.

Because of events in The Augury of Gideon, the Great Hive of Vampires is purged. None of this is really addressed in the book. My plan was to leave it to the imagination of the reader because I wasn't going to write anymore of the mythos. Since Cadmus refused to leave me alone and I've always been inspired by Barry's Harming Tree, I began to write my first short story that will be a part of The Harming Tree. But, in my head, the Great Hive was no more. The King was dead, and the Queen had moved on to the holy isle of Meybhelahn. The Hive of Redemption collectively mortated back to humanity. The Hive of Purity moved on with the Queen. The Tribe of the Tomb immediately began to die out. That left the Hive of the Beast and the Darkblood Hive, most of which remained in the blessed dark as Vampires. Even though there were some descendants of the royal Blood, none wished to rule the New Hive. They never wanted a role of leadership in the Great Hive, so why would they change their position in the new order of things? Orphaeus Cygnus wished only to lead the Beasts and remain a Prince. He also had a new role as memory keeper for the Vampires left on Earth, so that they never lost their heritage.

That leaves Cadmus, who always wanted to rule. And rulership would naturally fall to him anyway because he was a true child of the King and Queen both by birth and Blood. But I felt I couldn't use the word King for him, not with such a small group of subjects to rule anyway. Regent was too common, especially with all my other Vampire terms. I wanted something Latin or of Latin origin to be in keeping with Vampire terminology. The closest thing I could initially find was...Praetor. For obvious reasons, I couldn't use that because of Tom Hardy's title in Star Trek: Nemesis. Then I thought maybe Rex Praetorum might work. That was Latin enough, and not used technically anywhere else. Still, the whole Praetor thing in any form was distressing to me. So I did a little research and found the word...

plenipotentiary

The word is from the Latin plenus + potens, which means "ruler of all." How perfect is that? So Cadmus, in The Harming Tree, is known as the Plenipotentiary of the New Hive. And I am a very happy creature.

16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how "far" are you willing to go in your writing? ;)

Kind of. Vampiric romance is different from mortal romance, which I don't see ever writing. Vampiric romance contains a seed of viciousness, which comes out particularly during consummation. Blood is always exchanged. Because of that, I'm willing to go as far as needed to stay true to the narrative. The co-mingling of sex and blood is something that absolutely has to happen when I'm writing Kelat and Dmitri, especially since they're incubus and succubus.

Aunt Tudi and I were out of pretty much everything, so we went to Wally World to pick up some bits and bobs. Whilst there, I spotted this young teen girl with a tee shirt that said "Only Vampires can love you forever." Of course, I thought that was the bees knees. I don't know if it's from Twilight and I don't care; it's still the bees knees.

During one of our many stops so Aunt Tudi could regroup, I spied these things. This is what Americans are shoving in their faces these days. No wonder people are getting diabetes and dropping like flies. This is just death on a stick, I swear to the Mighties.

We're home after being gone for over three hours. Aunt Tudi had physical therapy, which we went to before going to Wally World. I remember when we could go all day and keep on going when we got home, but age and illness combined with the godawful heat have turned us both into limp rags. If I thought I could sleep, I'd go to bed right now. It's cooler in the bedroom. Instead, I'll just stay in the living room and grouse until bedtime.

My fascination with Vampires has been in the forefront of my mind since seeing Michael Nouri play "Midnight on Moscow" on the piano in a bar on a show called Cliffhangers. He was the infamous Count Dracula in that cheesy serial that was pure cold to a 12 year-old preteen with an over abundance of testosterone running through he sex-crazed fantasies. It was at that time that the implanted affinity for Vampires thanks to the Mother Unit's introduction of Barnabus Collins in my toddler years came to the forefront of my mind. I became enamoured of dark haired men with accents who played pianos. Years later, I was introduced to Jerry Dandridge, the dapper Vampire with a penchant for fruit. He didn't play piano, but he was suave, dashing, and eager to steal the damsel away from the nosy neighbour just for the hell of it. It didn't help that the man I realised was my soul mate kept imitating Jerry Dandridge because he knew the effect it had on me.

He would often walking by me at the most unexpected moments saying "Wellllcome to Fright-t Night-t...for real." It was set me into a tizzy and keep me immobilised for a time. Thankfully, I kept my composure, when all I wanted to do was grab him up and kiss him passionately in front of everyone, it didn't matter who saw. Wisely, he kept me to myself for the most part so I could suffer in silence as he sauntered on by, only to return to talk philosophy. Is it any wonder that he is the enigmatic Dmitiri Oskarov in my book?

As I go into the the last stretch of this last book, I've created for myself a loophole; whether I ever take it or not remains to be seen, but I feel I'm incapable of killing my darlings no matter how might I might want to, or need to, for that matter. I think as long as Barry keeps making music, I'll keep writing Vampire books, whether they involved Cadmus not not. There's an unwritten rule there ~ have Shriek will write Vampire.

This song by Crustation was on a sampler that I had to audition in Quality Assurance at BMG back in 1995, if memory serves correctly. The band's album was never released under the BMG umbrella. I'm not sure if it was ever released at all. But this song, this "Purple," became one of my most cherished songs. It's one of those songs that sings into your cells and lingers there to comfort you and possibly lull you into a sense of security that might be displaced. It's a perfect Vampire song. Read the lyrics and judge for yourself.

Purpleby Crustation

Sitting in the silent twilightThe purple half lightOf the twilightWrap the night around meBlanket of black on my backI feel safe in the darkness

Your voice is a caressDelights my sensesHeightens my happinessLightens my sadnessYour eyes were on me I rememberThose days in SeptemberSunset run nightYour hand held in mine

Sitting in the silent twilightThe purple half lightOf the twilightWrap the night around meBlanket of black on my backI feel safe in the darkness

The silence is so loudI almost feel itNothing to say nowBarely can talk nowI'm feeling like I'm lostI'm feeling dumbSpeechless and numbSo long I've been blindI'm losing my mind

Sitting in the silent twilightThe purple half lightOf the twilightWrap the night around meBlanket of black on my backI feel safe in the darkness

Sitting in the silent twilight raptureCould it be too hard to capture ?This velvet moment of serenity

I have apparently been living on a large rock over the past few years, because Massive Attack have never shown up on my radar until paisleydaze showed me the error of my ways by revealing "Dissolved Girl" to me the other day. I did a search on You Tube to find other gems and found the first version of "Angel" you see here just a few hours before paisleydaze sent me the version right below it. I adore this song and I particularly adore that the maker of this video used excerpts from Vampyr: Der Traum des Allen Grey, but I'm torn because the second video is so beautifully edited to make the song fit with The Dark Knight. I think, though, I'm gonna have to go with Vampyr because I'm rather fond of crazy old German vampire movies and the second clip shows a little too much of Christian Bale for my taste, even though I adore the J clips (like I would).

But you be the judge.

I can't thank paisleydaze enough for turning me on to this band. I think the world may end if they ever collaborated with Shriekback.

Hey, it's poetry time! For the newbies, I like lyric poetry, reading it and writing it. I'm fond of Beat poetry too. All the rest leaves me cold. I mainly write lyric poetry. If you don't dig such, you way want to stop reading now.

THE IVY GARDEN

I walked in the Ivy Garden with my eldritch lover paleAnd, strolling with me 'neath the moon, he told me this sad tale:"I once loved on sunny days and worshiped life and light,"But I was stricken by a lust for blood one black and bitter night."And I have wandered shadowed paths for many lonely years"And everywhere I seem to roam, I inspire hate and fear."

We walked in silence for a while. The ivy curled aroundThe willows and the trellises and snaked along the ground."But I love you," I finally said and I gazed into his eyes,Finding there the monster that the living world despised.Yet that I loved more than aught else, for the spirit knows its kinAnd I was bound as much as he in the prison of my sin.

My lover took me in his arms and embraced me as he sang.Throughout the Ivy Garden, his ethereal voice rang,And his music took me back in time to ancient alien daysWhen mythic people ruled the land with gentle Elfin ways.And sorrow's tears fell from my eyes for all that we have lost,And I begged to be taken far away no matter what the cost.

But he cried when I asked for his sanguine gift as he dried my pensive face,"I cannot curse you with my Blood, you'd fall from Holy Grace.""But haven't I already?" I asked, my voice low. "I'm not alive, been dead for years, I only want to know"That what we have, you and I, will never fade with time."Take me to your shadowed haunts and make Forever mine."

The wind blew soft and sweetly and the stars turned crimson redAs my lover drank my pain until I lay in the ivy, dead.The living world is dying from its self-inflicted woundsAs the Ivy Garden flourishes beneath the waning moon,And I go walking with my lover, eldritch, pale, and sad,For death in life or life in death is all we've ever had.

I thought about this song (and its video) after posting my godawful You Tube extravaganza, so this gets a post all its own. It irks me that I couldn't find the original version, but a remix is better than nothing. FYI: this song was written by Alannah Currie of Thompson Twins fame. And, xevokitty: VAMPIRES!

So, the latest mischief at The Joker Blogs was posted a day or so ago (no, not a new installment - don't get your panties in wad. That's coming, have no fear). You can go read it for yourself in the left-hand column on the page I linked. Or, if you don't want to click the link, read on MacDuff!

Adopt-An-Arkham Association

It's hard to survive in the cruel world we live in. It's filled with war, disease, heartache, toothache, starvation, and plenty of other hilarious things.

But few realize just how hard it is providing for people who have gone total bonkers with shelter, food, and cleanliness. Because one usually leads to problems with the other.

Most psychiatric hospitals like.... say... ARKHAM for example, are hopelessly in debt and in dire need of a bail-out. Especially after one patient in particular left all the sinks running and flooded the toilets in the lower east wing.

With the threat of financial issues, economic failure, and all around bad decorating, hospitals are faced with shutting down. And heaven knows where all of those looney-toons are going to go? Could be headed to your own backyard.

So take time to sponsor a crazy. For just $97 a day and 31 quick blood transfusions, your Adopt-An-Arkham patient will be happy as a clam. Donate today!

In a fit of...something...I decided to comment on his page with this:Us Vampires want to know how many transfusions you've taken in and if you have any extra to spare? Who cares about the money? You're probably just gonna burn it; at least your half, anyway.

Norvus Cobblepot then responded on myYou Tube channel page:Well there's only so much you can use as finger paint. I can donate the rest! A gift for all the promoting you've done. I'll make a deposit at the nearest blood-bank.

I would have ::boggled::, but I've been too busy laughing. Time to drag out the plastic fangs and silly straw. Nom nom nom.

A few years back, Barrow Alaska was ravaged and burned to the ground by a roving band of Vampires. Not only was a large portion of the population slaughtered and devoured, but the town's sheriff, one Eben Oleson, was forced to sacrifice himself in order to salvage what people and real estate were left after the long night of terror drew to a close.

Alaska's governor Sarah Palin has yet to visit Barrow, claiming that the incident could not have happened because Vampires do not exist. In fact, at the time of the ambush on Barrow, Ms. Palin was participating in a ritual to help protect herself from Witchcraft. When asked how she could believe in the existence of Witches and not Vampires, Ms. Palin cited the Holy Bible, quoting the now-famous line from that book: "Suffer not a Witch to live!" She declined comment when a reporter reminded her that a Vampire was mentioned in the Bible as well, choosing to selectively believe only portions of the book she claims to know so well.

Eyewitness accounts of what's come to be known as The Barrow Incident all claim that many of the Vampires left the ruins of the town after Sheriff Oleson fought and killed their leader Marlow. They weren't pursued by state authorities, nor have any APBs been issued for their capture and eventual prosecution. Since they can't exist in Sarah Palin's reality, they can't be arrested for the mayhem wrought upon America's northernmost city.

Rumours still run wild that the Vampires are planning more visits to northern Alaska, their sights set on Wainwright. Residents of Wainwright had petitioned the governor for funding to fortify their town's defenses, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. Ms. Palin admonished the town's elders for encouraging needless hysteria and suggested they spend more time reading their Bible and less time dwelling on unfortunate, but preventable, situations in nearby cities. Since then, the town has encouraged Witches to resettle in Wainwright, hoping that their magick will help to fight the inevitable Vampire attack as well as prevent Sarah Palin from ever visiting their town.

I mean it in the most complimentary way. I chanced upon this clip of two pathetic Singaporean soldiers getting the holy hell scared out of them by a Pontianak. I'd never even heard of the Pontianak until I saw this, which shames me no end because, apparently, Pontianak is the Malaysian/Singaporean Lilith archetype. I don't know if this clip is real or fake, but the sound the woman-creature is making makes the hair on my toe knuckles stand on end and do the Wave.

So then I do a search for other fun ghost stuff out of Singapore and I found this.

What's with the gimpy granny? Why do all these Asian ghosts move so freaky? Do you have to have a physical handicap to be a card-carrying Asian ghost? The hell?

What with Japanese ghost movies like Ju-On and Ringu, and now Live on You Tube: Haunted Singapore!, I don't think I'll ever have a good night's sleep again. Just the thought of doing an Asian ghost tour makes me want to poo a little in my skivvies.

I have always adored Stephen Rea. He stars in one of my all-time favourite movies, Citizen X, which I have to watch at least once a week. He was also in a very small role in Interview with a Vampire. He played Santiago in the movie and was, by far, the shining star in what was an otherwise dreary adaptation of Anne Rice's novel. He was Oh Em Gee fabulicious as Santiago. That said, please admire my new icon. *glee*

My favourite Shriekback song and quite possibly the greatest Shrieksong (although arguably) ever recorded. I used to have this performance on DVD, but my stupid arse lost it, and I've since been begging Jimmi B to lend me the DVD I made for him so I could make myself a copy to no avail. This is not the complete performance. If it were, you could see the makings of an entire ritual being performed onstage, which is oft typical of Shriek performances.

You can actually see the cone of power being raised here, which I find to be utterly amazing since one usually has to be physically present for such a beholding to be experienced. The song itself was written by Barry in response to an hallucinogenic experience Vivienne Kent and he had out in the forest. When I first heard the song, my first impression was that of mythically pure Cadmus. Turns out, I was right. Essentially, the song is about lycanthropic Vampires scoping out their next brunch. Of course, it's all done in "good fun." Yeah...

So, behold the glory that is "Despite Dense Weed." By all means, pass it on. Nothing would make me happier than to see this Shriek song made desperately viral.

The reviews for this movie have so far been very mixed amongst both critics and "lay-people" alike. Some have hated it whilst others have had sort of a "meh" reaction. A lot of folks have said, "If you are a fan of vampire movies, you'll like this," which is a bit damning in and of itself. I'd like to go on record from the start of this review as one of the people who enjoyed this movie from start to finish, despite my being "a fan of vampire movies."

I haven't read the graphic novel, nor have I read the novelisation of the movie. Even though I knew exactly what was going to happen in the movie, there were some things that came as a surprise to me, all for the same reason: they drew from actual Vampire lore. I'm not sure if this is the case in the graphic novel or not because I know that the Vampire language was unique to the movie. I'd like to hope that the graphic novelist did his homework, but I know for certain that David Slade did his.

I write all this out to communicate to whomever might read this that there was perhaps more thought put into the creation of 30 Days of Night than might initially be assumed. That said, on to the review proper.

By now, everyone knows the premise of the story: the northernmost American town of Barrow, Alaska is preparing for its annual month without sun. All but 152 residents are hauling butt out of town on the last day of light, while the remainder prepare to hunker down for the long, cold dark. Heralded in by a strange Cajun weirdo Renfield, though, are a tribe of Vampires who fall upon the town with a vengeance as soon as the sun completely goes down for the last time in thirty days. Led by Marlow and his long-nosed girlfriend Iris, the Vampires enjoy a veritable smörgåsbord of A, A-, B, B-, AB, AB- and, everyone's favourite, that all-purpose and ever-so-tasty O! The overhead shot of this initial feeding frenzy is quite possibly one of the most beautiful cinematic moments in recent history. It's like a traffic reporter's nightmare or, perhaps, her greatest career moment. Either way, it's a stupendous scene and one I wouldn't mind seeing it again...and again...and maybe even again!

So that was Day 1 which was, without a doubt, the most intense of the 30 days in question. Now, when I say it was the most intense, that doesn't mean that the rest of the movie sucked; rather, it means that the other days were less intense, but still just as interesting. The dynamic between the mortals trying to figure out how to survive while wondering what the heck these creatures of the night were was quite deftly balanced with the Vampires and how they seemingly communicate better with each other than the humans do. However hellish, Marlow and Iris' relationship appears to at least be a healthy one , which can only mean that they used eHarmony.com instead of Match.com, which was obviously the dating service du jour of Eben and Stella, who thought it prudent to take couples advice from Dr. Phil. All kidding aside, the dance between predator and prey is a thing of beauty to behold. It's not, as some have contended, a mere flee-chase situation. Every moment is one where the intelligence and/or luck of one will affect the survival of another. The mortals know that they are fighting a superior foe. How they deal with this only certainty in their bleak struggle is pretty nifty, even from the perspective of a rabid Anne Rice fan.

All of the performances are outstanding, even that of Josh Hartnett of whom, I must admit, I've never been very impressed. The dialogue could have been better, but it wasn't awful and there were some brilliant lines, the best of which was spoken in Vampirese (my word), paraphrased here because I'm not certain I recall it word for word: "When man meets a force he cannot destroy, he destroys himself. What a plague you are." And this is why Marlow is my favourite character, despite the suspicions of my contemporaries that there may be other reasons: not only is he a Vampire, but his a misanthropic Vampire. ::luff::

I'd like to address some complaints and misconceptions about the film now, starting with a misconception. Actually, this is the only misconception. I've heard several folks on more than one movie site mistake the Vampirese for something Slavic, like Romanian or Hungarian. While Romania and Hungary are both located in typically Slavic regions of Europe, neither language is Slavic in origin. Romanian belongs to the Romance languages, having more in common with Spanish than it does Czech or Russian. Hungarian isn't even a member of the Indo-European family of languages! People need to keep their pie-holes shut, however virtual, if they don't know what they're talking about. No, the Vampirese is a created language, the brainchild of David Slade, Danny Huston (Marlow), and a linguist, who wanted to create a language based on hatred and hunger. The screech people hear throughout the movie is actually their word for "blood." It's the Vampires' version of "Eat at Joe's!"

One of the complaints about the movie is lack of character development. We didn't get to explore what made Eben and Stella's marriage go South, nor did we get to find out exactly where the Vampires came from and how they came to be. I'm sorry, but the last thing a group of people wants to do is do collective soul searching or engage in marriage self-counseling when life is on the line. All you want to do is focus on breathing for another 24 hours, not whatever petty differences you may have had prior to the crisis at hand. And do we really want to know where the Vampires came from? Okay, not a good question because I, for one, would like to, yes. The better question is, is this movie really the right one to answer that question? Doesn't the mystique of the Vampires add to the overall creepiness of the movie? Sometimes explaining every little thing or doing character studies in an environment where it would just be downright unrealistic.

Another one of the complaints is the skipping over of several days at a time. The name of the movie is not supposed to be the actual length of the movie. There's the argument that no sense of time being passed is felt. How can one feel the passage of time without the normal rising and setting of the sun and moon? Everything would have a sameness about it, marked only by the physical changes in the mortal characters. These changes could have been a bit more pronounced, but what Hollywood production is ever going to let its stars look too very gnarly or stinky, unless that star is a villain?

My main beef with the movie is one that's definitely spoiler-y and I will therefore not address here, maybe not even until the DVD comes out. It's a major hole in the plot as far as I'm concerned, though, and some hefty 'splainin' needs to be done to make it wash with me. Other than that, though, I was very pleased with the film. I was happy with the Vampires, even though I'm usually not a big fan of facial deformity in movie Vampires, something that got a boost with Lost Boys and was taken way over the top with Buffy. The mortals were likable, which is saying a lot, as I usually don't like mortals at all in Vampire movies. All in all, I give it two claws up and a shot of AB+, just for kicks.

I'll probably be expanding this over time, just for fun. It's something I've been poking at all day, off and on, for no good reason really. I've had better things to do, like apply for jobs (which I did....about 30 of them just today) and work on the second draft of The Chalice, but Faust has been niggling in the back of my mind..... and Cadmus is always there. I haven't even proofread the offering behind the cut so, if anyone reads this and finds it appalling, you have no one to blame but me!

So I woke up late this morning with a stuffed-up nose and a headache. I'm not sure if it's a cold or allergies, but it was bad enough that I had to cancel with green_goblin70 today. He was going to take me for a ride on his motorcycle. We're supposed to meet for lunch on 2 May, so we've rescheduled the ride for then. I've never ridden on a motorcycle before, so I'm really looking forward to it. One disclaimer: just because I'm riding on the back of green_goblin70's motorcycle, this does not mean that I am his bitch. Just sayin'.

Anyways, I'm sick. I'm kinda hoping it's an actual cold or something 'cos I haven't had a cold in ages and it's starting to alarm me, how healthy I've been of late. It makes me think that, when I do get sick, I will die.

Today has consisted of my working on the second draft of The Chalice. I'm still in the "Sui Generis" chapter, which is quite dear to me for a number of reasons. It's the biography of Cadmus and explains why he is the way his is. It graphically describes the death of Earth's last dragon, Cadmus' surrogate mother. It's the only written account I have, so far, of Kelat after having found and then lost Dmitri/Thanatos/Thaddeus. And it will, I hope (once I conclude the story within "Sui Generis"), set the stage for the conflict later on in the book as well as explain Kelat's urgency in usurping the chalice from Cadmus and perhaps why she relinquishes it to him at the last moment. Oops, a spoiler. Ah well.

Ideally, I'd like to finish this chapter and give it to Barry when I fly over. Realistically, I don't see that happening, because I've been struggling with the story for well over a year. Once it's done, it will be the longest and probably the most important chapter in the book. I will have put more work, heart, and blood into this chapter than I did with "The Fur Trader" and "Lady of the Night" put together, and that's saying a lot, considering the first two chapters are driven by my connection to my soul mate and our shared past-life memories.

And....vampire names. This is specifically for piperdawn, but anyone can use it if so inclined.

Malathia [Mah-Lah-THY-ah] (no origins but my head)

Eve (she's a character in a Cadmus short story, so named because she was "the first" and only soul transformed by Cadmus, but the name can be used by anyone, right?)

Braecca [BRECK-uh] (supposed Atlantean heroine name)

Dhrynn [pronounced like 'then,' but with an r] (Tarmian variant for the word Dhraicynn and Dhrynna, which are words for 'dragon')

If it isn't already evident, my vampire obsession has cycled back with full force.

So I was hunting for one of my favourite ONJ songs. Yes, I like Olivia Newton-John and I'm proud of it. Eat dirt if you think that's funny or stupid. Anyway, I found the song, "A Little More Love" from 1979. And I really listened to the lyrics this time, and was flabbergasted.

Throughout my time with the sub-hives that comprise that Great Hive of Vampires, I've had living examples of typical members of each sub-hive to give myself an idea of what these hive members would look like, how they would behave, and what their motivations might be. It came to my attention last night that I've never written any of that down, always depending on it staying in my head. Since I'm getting old and decrepit, I'm thinking it may be wise to commit the information to some other storage facility that will be more dependable than my brain. Thank the heavens for LJ.

Dark Blood Hive: Classic Vampire Society eschewing guilt over what is considered a Natural State. Most Dark Bloods are Incubi and Succubi.

EXAMPLES: Julian Sands, Peter Murphy, Annie Lennox, Marina Sirtis

Graceful, attractive in an almost otherworldly fashion, these are perhaps the best-known of the Vampires after the Tribe of the Tomb.

Hive of the Beast: consisting of those prone to Bloodlust and the revels of the flesh.

They celebrate Death and blood, often taking trophies from their victims like mortal serial killers. They don't care for any rules to which the Great Hive may adhere, preferring to "do their own thing" and enjoy their nature to its fullest.

Hive of Purity: consisting of the Original Ten and their first Children.

EXAMPLES: Johnny Depp, Nick Rhodes, Enya, Jane Weidlin

Elves transformed into vampires along with their first transformed companions comprise this sub-hive. Still touched by the ancient grace of the Tarmi, these vampires harbour a delicate and eternal nature.

Hive of Redemption: consisting of those of Blood who strive to overcome their predatory nature.

EXAMPLES: Elijah Wood, Moby, Loreena McKennitt, Tilda Swinton

Penitents and Flagellants, these vampires punish themselves for their vampiric inclinations. Many use blood as a way to seek forgiveness for their sins. They are intentionally gentle creatures, and will feed only when absolutely necessary, oftentimes starving themselves for long periods of time.

Often called The Innocents, these are the most well-known vampires to Humanity, simply because they're incapable of hiding themselves away like their brethren. Typically homeless, many resort to sleeping in tombs during the day. They seem unaware of their State of Being, often appearing to be bodies inhabited by ghosts. The Innocents need never kills, requiring only small amounts of blood for sustenance. In fact, they often drink only from animals, leaving the realm of Humanity to the more cunning and bloodthirsty in the Great Hive.

This is the title of one of the best books on the subject of vampires, vampirism, the folklore of the the vampire, and the vampire's influence on popular culture. Published in 1972, it has that air of revolution, the quest for freedom, and the celebration of the absurd wrapped neatly in its poetry. Leonard Wolf sacrifices himself for what is obviously a labour of love. Anyone serious about the study of vampires should read A Dream of Dracula. Sadly, it's now out of print. I got a used copy via Amazon and am reading Mr. Wolf's wisdom for the first time since 1988. His vision of the vampire helped to fashion my own ideas of what my own vampires should be like. Early in the book, he writes:

Stoker's Count Dracula has a psychological validity because he is in the tradition of of certain of his great precursors whose existence is documented both in literature as well as in life. Dracula is only one, and not the last, in a long line of God's rogues whom -- if they occasionally fail to appear in an epoch -- we ask our literary figures to invent.

I find it very odd that, 30 years after this was written and 17 years after I initially read this passage, I would write something that stands in support of Mr. Wolf's observations:

From "Sui Generis"

For Cadmus the desert was a holy place, a geological manifestation of the vampiric at its most pristine: absorbing all around it and producing a different kind of life, primarily nocturnal, out of the obviousness of its death. A triumph of death within itself, shouting into the Beingness an awareness that should not Be, yet Is ~ dancing defiantly in the red maw of adversity. The beasts of the desert, all manner of scrubby mammals, majestic reptiles, and dangerous insects and arachnids embraced the abundant barrenness with zeal, or so it seemed to Cadmus Pariah. Their Will to exist, even under the cruelty of the sun, inspired him to emulate their daily travails, if only for a short while, and look upon the face of the Great Golden One as though to say “I live in spite of you!”

Indeed he narrowed his eyes and focused on the West to where only a gentle, defeated orange crescent could now be seen on the horizon, and uttered into the crackling winds, “I do continue regardless of your efforts, O Solaris! And I shall persist far beyond the age in which you yourself are incinerated by the seed of the Void in the heart of your flame.”

Circling above him a nighthawk keened as though in response to Cadmus’ poetry. The wind surged against Cadmus, ruffling his priestly robes behind him, and he felt a desperate power bubble within him. Standing upon the pinnacle of his arroyos perch, Cadmus leapt into the air.

I thank Leonard Wolf in my acknowledgments at the beginning of The Chalice. His revelation of Vampires that probably still walk among us. He takes the make up from Bela Lugosi's face and shows us a small, self-conscious man who wanted nothing more than to act....and learn to speak English

By presenting the Old Ways and superstitions, then bringing those night terrors to find them in the present, Mr. Wolf has come face to face with the reality of vampirism and how even today, it thrives. My most sincere hope is, if I get The Chalice is ever published, I'd like to send a copy to Mr. Wolf or to his estate if he's passed beyond. I read somehwere that he had.

My adoration and fascination with vampires began in 1979 when I watched "Cliffhangers" on ABC. It came on right after "Tenspeed and Brownshoe" and it featured 3 serials, one of which was "Dracula '79." It starred Michael Nouri as a very sympathetic Dracula who played the piano like a god and could romance the pants off any woman and most of the men. I was utterly, hopelessly in love not just with Michael Nouri, but with the idea of the vampire. My first sexual thoughts involved vampirism and, to this day, my sexuality is deeply entwined in the practices of vampires (both in folklore and the modern conceptions).

Then in 1988, I rented Fright Night to see where the mindset was regarding vampirism. I was doing research on vampirism at the time, playing around with the idea of writing something about my beloved bloodsuckers. One of the books I drew a lot of wisdom from was Leonard Wolf's comprehensive work, A Dream of Dracula: In Search of the Living Dead. This is where I learned most everything I know about actual vampires passed on in folklore ~ the Upir, the Vrykolakas, Nosferatu. While I was reading the book, I watched Fright Night and fell in love with the character of Jerry Dandridge. This movie brought vampires to Suburbia, making the folklore vampire an inhabitant of the modern world. Sure the movie is cheesy, and it gets cheesier as I get older, but it struck a chord in me that hadn't be plucked in almost ten years.

Some of the scenes that spoke to me on a personal level were the transformation of Evil Ed and the revelation that Amy could well be the reincarnation of one of Jerry's beloved companions. As I had just come to learn about the phenomenon of soulmates and I was still wrestling with the fact that I was a social outcast, I soaked up Fright Night like a sponge. It was also Fright Night that showed me that nightclubs were wonderful hang-outs and hunting grounds for vampires. And, of course, nightclubs became very important to the character of Cadmus Pariah, who held concerts and court there.

It didn't really help that my soulmate would come up behind me every chance he got and whisper in my ear "Welcome to Fright Night...for real..." He absolutely loved the movie too, and we'd hold long conversations about the nature of vampires and vampirism, particularly their role in the religious community. Our conversations were much more profound than the movie could ever hope to be.

Why am I writing about this now? Well, it's because Fright Night is on the Sci-Fi channel right now and all these memories just started boiling to the surface.

The beach scene in Queen of the Damned is one of my all-time favourite movie scenes. The music is haunting and stirs my blood, and the whole atmosphere captures the Vampiric.

There's something about Gypsy music that clings to the soul of the Vampire like no other music. The Romany Gypsies and their brethren tapped into an otherworldliness that's off limits to other humans. Perhaps that's why non-Gypsies were so prone to banish the Rom from their villages and communities. They harboured an unknown and unspoken jealousy of those who could truly See.

I finished The Da Vinci Code yesterday. I enjoyed on the level that it brought up a lot memories regarding other texts I've read and research I've done, mainly Holy Blood, Holy Grail. At the time that Timothy offered up to me the breathtaking book Holy Blood, Holy Grail, I was piecing together characters for a book that would eventually be named The Chalice War. The Grail book had such a profound effect on me, it influenced the direction of the book I was conceiving and even added a central piece of the puzzle that was my plot.

Like a moron, I saved the whole of what I'd written on the book in the Quality Assurance computer (I didn't have a computer at home at the time) and, when the computer crashed, I lost an unbelievable amount of writing. I still have a goodly amount on typewritten paper, but I've never transferred to computer again. All I have is the rough draft of the prologue and the first couple of chapters. Actually, this is a good thing because, when I first started writing the book, Cadmus hadn't yet come into his own. He's now one of the central characters instead of being a shadowy plot device. I can work him in accordingly.

I'm really rather compelled to gather up all The Chalice War papers and type them into one coherent whole, and then save it on a disc...just in case. The urge to actually work on this book again is strong with me, as strong as a small pony.